The present invention relates generally to systems for storing and managing access to and use of electronic devices. More particularly, the disclosed invention relates to a system and apparatus for managed storage and use of one or more portable digital tablet computing devices.
Portable hand-held computers, often called “tablets,” are rapidly increasing in popularity and use in a wide variety of contexts and settings. Digital tablets are flat portable computer devices, adapted and sized for use while held in a user's hand. A “tablet” for purposes of this disclosure thus includes a mobile computer, typically integrated with a flat touch screen, and primarily (but not necessarily exclusively) operated by touching the screen rather than using a physical keyboard. Tablets often use an onscreen “virtual keyboard.” Some older or specialized tablets receive input from a stylus created specifically for the device, and electrical sensors in the face of the tablet detect the pen and allow the user to input information.
Much more commonly, and more important currently, are the aforementioned touch-pad tablets, in which pressure-sensitive icons are operated by the tips of the user's fingers. Such tablet computer devices most frequently use capacitive touch screens with “multi-touch” capabilities, unlike the earlier stylus-driven resistive touchscreen devices. Some tablets allow a user to execute word processing and spreadsheets, while certain and selected others permit not only these activities, but also media consumption and generation such as web browsing, email and social media, GPS satellite navigation, photo stills and video camera functions, photo and video viewing and editing, downloadable “apps,” portable media player functions, and/or “e-reading” capabilities. Widely popular tablets include the nine-inch (diagonal) screen iPad® devices available from Apple, Inc., and the Samsung Galaxy Tab® device from Samsung Electronics Co. Other tablet manufacturers include HTC, Motorola, Sony, and Microsoft. There is a widely held perception that mobile tablet computers will render obsolete the standard “desk top” computers in many contexts, including educational settings.
Besides their increasing popularity in the consumer market generally, tablet computers are used increasingly in institutional contexts, particularly schools and universities. The availability of computers, especially including portable tablet-type devices, will increasingly become an integral and essential qualification for a student's daily tasks. However, with the advantages of a portable tablet computer come the attendant disadvantages of storing the tablets and controlling their accessibility and use, especially in instructional settings involving many students simultaneously. Improperly stored and/or managed tablets are vulnerable not only to adverse environmental conditions, but also to tampering and theft. Further, it is desirable to provide means by which a supervisor, such as a teacher or proctor, can monitor the condition and use of many tablet devices in, for example, a classroom setting, and assure their replacement and proper storage when not in use.
Against the foregoing background, the present system was developed.